The College Board states that: “A student's grades in college-preparatory classes remain the most significant factor in college admission decisions.” The College Board then provides the following clarification “Highly selective colleges look for students who: Take more challenging classes, even though they may have slightly lower grades than they'd achieve in lower-level courses. Enroll in several college-prep or college-level courses (such as AP®) and perform well. Take four years of a world language, showing evidence of academic discipline and challenge.” This is interesting to me because I have struggled to convince students and fellow teachers of the importance of college-prep and college-level courses at our school. Because we are a small …show more content…
When I wrote their recommendations I was able to describe the exceptional effort they put into studying for these exams without having the option of taking the courses at our school. When I brought the above to the attention of an administrator, I was told that if we don’t offer many AP courses in our curriculum it is easier for us to say our students have taken the most demanding coursework at our school. Therefore, it is easier for them to apply to better schools with less stress and effort. This may be beneficial to some students in reducing stress, but for those who are trying to self-study for AP exams it seems unfair that we are not offering the actual AP courses. It seems that universities are seeking students who love learning and are well prepared for college level studies through rigorous high school studies. As I prepare my students to apply to university, I want to make sure that I am helping them to develop a passion for learning in high school that they can bring with them to college. Hopefully, I can accomplish this by directing them to classes that will ignite their passions and encourage them to dig deeper in their areas of